Last Spring, as I was sitting listening despondently to students mangling stress, I decided to give up on words, and create a sound pattern that was so visually simple, they’d be compelled to listen.
If you can’t hear a sound, it is very difficult to reproduce it. Our students hear stressed syllables, which would be okay, except in English over 60% of our syllables are unstressed, and we often forget to teach them how to listen for those unstressed syllables.
English spelling compounds the problem. Spelling is inherently a visual activity that only visual learners excel at. In pronunciation we are not teaching spelling, we are teaching students how to hear sounds and produce them.
So, here’s the way I now teach stress. It takes about an hour.
The Lesson
First, I explain that every word, no matter how many syllables, has only one BOM (I say this BOOM)
A BOM is said LONG, HIGH and LOUD
Listen: BOM, BOM, BOM – you try
I draw the following empty grid on the board.
| WORDS | ||||
| 1 Syllable | 2 Syllables | 3 Syllables | 4 Syllables | 5 Syllables |
Then we talk about the number of BOMs in a one syllable word, how many BOMS, in a 2 syllable Word? 3, 4, 5, 10, or 25, etc. Which syllable has the BOM in Supercalafragalisticexial i DOsious?
I explain that all other syllables are pronounced ba
A ba is said fast, low and softly
Listen: ba, ba, ba. You try. Maybe even whisper
Then I ask them how many BOMs are in a one syllable word.
I turn to my chart and under 1 syllable fill in BOM
BOM ba Chart
| 1 Syllable | 2 Syllables | 3 Syllables | 4 Syllables | 5 Syllables |
| BOM | ||||
Everyone should listen: BOM, BOM, BOM. Then, everyone can say BOM. Then give examples: Red. Good.
I write the example on the chart.
Word Chart
| 1 Syllable | 2 Syllables | 3 Syllables | 4 Syllables | 5 Syllables |
| BOM ( red, new, blue) | BOMba
( PAper , BOTTle, REcord, FORty) |
BOMbaba
(BEAUtiful, CAnada. YESterday |
||
| baBOM ( beCAUSE, re CORD, fourTEEN | baBOMba
cor RECtion, reLIgion, baNAna |
|||
| babaBOM
( PORtuguese, emploYEE |
||||
We move on to 2 syllable words. I ask, “Do you hear the BOM in a 2 syllable word, how many BOMs, where are the bas? Give me an example of BOMba, PAper. Good. How do you say it? Listen. BOMba, BOMba, BOMba. Now try it. PAper, PAper, PAper.”
We move to the second syllable stress in a 2 syllable word, I say, “Now give me an example of baBOM. reCORD. Good. How do you say it? Listen. baBOM, baBOM, baBOM. Now try it. reCORD, reCORD, reCORD.
You can continue with 3, 4 and 5 syllable words with the same explanation and practice as laid out in the chart. For levels 3 and 4, I stop at 3 syllables, but give all 5 syllables for Levels 5-9.
Sample word chart
| WORDS | ||||
| 1 Syllable | 2 Syllables | 3 Syllables | 4 Syllables | 5 Syllables |
| BOM
red new blue |
BOMba
PAper , BOTTle, REcord, FORty) |
BOMbaba
BEAUtiful, CAnada. YESterday |
BOMbababa
ACTivated |
BOMbabababa
HABerdashery |
| ba
a the of |
baBOM beCAUSE
reCORD fourTEEN |
baBOMba
corRECtion reLIgion baNAna |
baBOMbaba
aNALasys |
baBOMbababa
reFRIDGerator |
| babaBOM
emploYEE |
babaBOMba
aroMAtic |
babaBOMba
unconTROLlable |
||
| bababaBOM
entrepreNEUR |
bababaBOMba
misunderSTANDing |
|||
| babababaBOM | ||||
Tips for teaching good listening skills
Listening is key to this presentation. Here are some tips to encourage good listening skills:
- Insist that students not copy during the teaching part.
- Insist that students listen to you repeat the sound, word or rhythm 3 times before attempting to reproduce sound.
- All sound reproduction and correction is choral.
- Assure students that if they can’t make the sound, the remedy is to listen until they hear it and that might take the whole term.
- Give handouts as a reward for successfully duplicating the required sounds.
- Be sure to remind students that BOMba is not a real word, it has no meaning. Students need to be reminded of this.
If you’d like to learn more, please join the webinar on Tutela that will be held this Wednesday, February 28th:
TESL Ontario: Hearing Rhythm, the Key to Speaking English Fluently
Jacqueline Johnson OCELT, M.A., specializes in Pronunciation and Oral Skill Development for ESL learners from basic literacy to Level 8/9 as well as advanced academic. She brings extensive experience in innovative curriculum design in language and life skill development for diverse clientele ranging from Corrections to Corporate to everyday ESL Classrooms.
